Logo of Alta Mira Studios featuring a stylized buffalo adorned with headphones, set against a reflective background.
Joe May on stage with dramatic red lighting and starburst effect from lights

Alta Mira Studios is Joe May’s recording studio in Charlotte, NC equipped with state of the art recording equipment and myriad musical toys to inspire creativity and curiosity.

“In pursuing my debut album, I wanted to create a space where I could have fun with the recording process and also serve as a conduit for others to do so, connecting with the local music community. Through continually cultivating this space, I ended up with a retro-inspired recording studio capable of tracking and mixing anyone’s dream album, using outboard analog audio gear to capture that vintage warmth we all grew up loving. “ -JM

Rack-mounted audio equipment including preamps, limiters, and amplifiers with dials and meters.
Rack-mounted audio equipment including preamplifiers and equalizers with blue control panels, meters, and knobs.
Large-diaphragm condenser microphone with metal shock mount and "Lauten Audio" branding.
Dual-layer keyboards, a 1970's honer clavinet and a 1970's fender rhodes, in a room with blinds in the background.
Vintage Wurlitzer electric piano with volume controls and pedal in a music studio setting.
Black 1981 Yamaha U3 piano in a room with a decorative framed art piece on the wall and a large potted plant nearby.

Our Services

Service Offerings

  • Song/album recording sessions

  • Mixing

  • Full band tracking

  • Instrument and vocal overdubs

  • Keyboard session musician

  • Podcast post-production

  • Adding analog warmth to digital recordings with outboard gear

The Space

Alta Mira Studios is tucked into a newly renovated 1942 cottage in Charlotte’s historical NoDa arts district.

  • Mixing Room: A cozy acoustically-treated space to refine tracks, record isolated parts, and polish a track

  • Live Room: Can fit a 6-piece band, with gobo’s to keep drums out of your mic and ears

Rates

  • Full-day recording session: $500

  • Half-day recording session: $250 *

  • One song mix (Recorded In-House): $200

  • One song mix (Recorded externally): $300

    *Full band sessions: minimum full day

Group of five smiling men with long hair in casual clothing, standing together indoors. A quote about music recording by Dane Chelcun appears at the bottom of the image.

creative Manifesto

1. Eye contact – Live interplay captures energy that isolated perfection can't

2. Don’t overautomate — let dynamics come from the players, not the producer

3. Don’t mix to reference tracks — trust your vision blindly

4. go berserk — If the song isn’t clicking, small adjustments don’t matter

5. harmony, Harmony, HARMONY

6. Make the chorus shimmer

7. let it evolve — Treat the chorus as a motif, not a rigid standard

8. Let the track breathe — don’t sacrifice just to keep it short

9. Utilize Oblique Strategies

10. There are a million different ways you could mix the same song

Browse the library of songs recorded or mixed by Joe May, tallying over 1,000,000 streams below:

Joe May working with equipment in dark venue with stage lights.

Let’s work together

Submit form or email joemaymusic@gmail.com for any inquiries:

Equipment - Gear - Creative Tools -

Equipment - Gear - Creative Tools -

Instruments:

  • 1981 Yamaha U3 52” Studio Upright Piano

  • 1970’s Wurlitzer 200A Electric Piano

  • 1970’s Hohner Clavinet D6

  • 1972 Rhodes Stage 73 Electric Piano

  • Nord Stage 3 HP

  • Nord Electro 5D

  • Squier Classic Vibe Jazzmaster

  • Fender Blues Deluxe

  • Pearl Export Series Drum Kit

Effects:

  • 1970’s Mutron III Envelope Filter [THE Jerry Garcia sound]

  • Electro Harmonix Memory Man Analog Delay

  • Electro Harmonix Nano-Q

  • Dunlop Classic Wah

  • Ibanez Tube Screamer

  • MXR Phase 90

  • MXR Uni Vibe

  • MXR Dyna Comp

  • MXR Carbon Copy Delay

  • TC Electronic Spark Boost and EQ

  • TC Electronic Juno Chorus

  • Electro Harmonix Hum Debugger

  • Universal Audio Dream 65

Preamps:

  • 2x BAE 1073 MPL

  • 2x CAPI VP312 Heider

  • Universal Audio 4-710D (Tube/Solid State Blend)

  • Audio Scape Golden 58 Stereo Tube Preamplifier

  • Audio Scape V108 JFET

  • Cranborne Audio Camden

  • Warm Audio WA412

  • 2x Cloudlifter CL-1 Mic Activator

Compression:

  • Audio Scape Stereo Bus Comp (SSL)

  • Audio Scape 76A (1176 Rev A)

  • Audio Scape Opto-Comp (LA-2A)

  • 4x UA 710D ‘76 style comp

EQs:

  • 2x AudioScape EQP-1A (Pultec)

  • SPL BIG

  • 1970’s TEAC Model 2A 6 channel mixer

Conversion:

  • Burl B2 Bomber ADC

  • Motu 828ES

  • UA 4-710D ADAT

  • Behringer x32Rack for live applications

Microphones:

  • Lauten Audio FC-387 Atlantis

  • Warm Audio WA-47F (U47 FET)

  • 2x Beyerdynamic m160 Ribbon

  • Alder Audio H44 Ribbon

  • Electrovoice RE20

  • Shure SM7B

  • 2x 1980’s Audio Technica ATm33a Small-Diaphragm Condenser

  • 2x Lauten Audio LA120 Small-Diaphragm Condenser

  • 2x 1980’s Shure MD421

  • Telefunken M82

  • EV 635a

  • Sennheiser e609

  • 3x Shure SM57

  • sE Electronics v7x

  • 2x Shure SM58

  • 3x sE Electronics v7

  • Audix ADX60

  • Audix D6

  • 2x Audix D4

  • 2x Audix D2

Monitoring:

  • Focal Solo6 Studio Monitors

Plugins:

  • UAD PulTec collection

  • UAD LA-2A collection

  • UAD LA-3A

  • UAD 1176 Collection

  • UAD DBX 160

  • UAD Empirical Labs Distressor

  • UAD Fairchild 660/670

  • UAD API 2500 Bus Compressor

  • UAD API Vision Channel Strip

  • UAD Century Tube Channel Strip

  • UAD Studer A800

  • UAD Oxide Tape Recorder

  • UAD Galaxy Tape Echo

  • UAD Pure Plate Reverb

  • Soundtoys Little Plate, SuperPlate

  • Soundtoys EchoBoy, Echoboy Jr.

  • Soundtoys Decapitator

  • Soundtoys FilterFreak

  • Soundtoys Crystallizer

  • Soundtoys PanMan

  • Soundtoys PhaseMistress

  • Soundtoys Tremolator

  • Soundtoys Radiator, Little Radiator

  • Soundtoys Devil-Loc Deluxe, Devil-Loc

  • Soundtoys PrimalTap, Little PrimalTap

  • Soundtoys MicroShift, Little MicroShift

  • Soundtoys Little AlterBoy

  • Soundtoys Sie-Q

  • Oeksound Soothe2

  • Oxford Inflator

  • Izotope Ozone Suite

  • Izotope Neutron Suite

  • Izotope Nectar

  • Celemony Melodyne Essential

  • Valhalla Vintage Verb

  • Waves Scheps 73 Equalizer

  • Wavesfactory Trackspacer

  • Ableton Suite Library

  • TAL Togu Chorus X

  • Plugin Alliance SPL Transient Designer

  • Plugin Alliance SPL De-Esser Collection

  • Plugin Alliance Ampex V-4B

  • Plugin Alliance bx Subsynth

  • Plugin Alliance Maag Audio EQ4

  • Black Salt Audio Silencer

  • Black Salt Audio Oxygen

  • Black Salt Audio Telofi

  • Black Salt Audio Low Control

  • Minimeters

  • Refuse Flipper